NO BS : Maybe We Don’t Give Nollywood The Required Support

“I love & support Nollywood”. I know that’s a statement a lot of you may never attribute to me but the truth is, I do love Nollywood.

I grew up in home where it was written by my mother that “ So shall a family pray together, stay together to see a Nollywood movie every night before bed time”

My mother until this day comes home with a new Nollywood movie everyday while this may sound impossible, you need to believe that there’s a new Nollywood movie everyday.

I grew up in the days of fine boys Kenneth Okonkwo, Pat Atta, Ramsey, Charles Okafor and Clem.

The Tontoless days of Nollywood bad girls like Rita Nzelu & Eucharia Anunobi.

The pre Jim Iyke days of Nollywood bad boys like late J.T Tom West & Hanks Anuku.

I love Genevieve but I can never forget the days of Nollywwod most sought after woman of then, Regina Asikia.

Men & women were allowed to crush on Regina Asikia and her cat eyes had their own fan base.

We didn’t just have “Living in Bondage”, we had other classic movies like Amaka Igwe’s “Violated”, “Glamour Girls” (The first ever Nollywood English Movie released in 1994),”Rituals” & more.

The Nollywood actors of those days didn’t have calenders neither were they moving around town in Range Rovers. They were our very own actors and we loved them totally.

I’m not saying that there’s anything wrong with driving Range Rovers or producing calenders, I’m only saying maybe they weren’t making too much money from the industry back then and didn’t have corporate endorsement but this just shows how far the industry has come today.

I’ve since followed the growth of Nollywood till date. I’ve seen Nollywood grow from table phones to mobile phones, from “back to back” cut, to spilt screen for conversations, from a popular hotel in Onitsha to building actual movie set, from an industry that’s feeding a family to the present one providing employment for many young people.

We’ve grown as a nation but I’ve always thought that Nollywood is growing at a slow pace, maybe it’s all in my head, but again, maybe not.

I’ve continued to watch Nollywood movies expecting an overall improvement but I continue to see an industry moving at a slow pace. Maybe I’m watching the wrong movies or my expectations are high.

I have seen 3 hours movies built around an idea that was only showcased for 5 minutes, I have seen Nollywood movies that tell the entire movie via the soundtrack with no surprises, I’ve seen Nollywood movies where an actor will wear one weave throughout the movie with the storyline spanning over a period of 6 years and more.

I’ve seen Nollywood Movies where the lady playing the mad woman wears rags but keeps well manicured painted fingernails.

I don’t even want to start with the Nollywood event/ party crowd, we never seem to ever get that right both in the good and bad movies.

I’ve also seen some Nollywood movies with good storylines but I seem to see more of those with incomplete story lines.

A recent Nollywood movie got me thinking of some many reasons why we may not really be growing as expected, Maybe Nollywood is not getting the required result or the practitioners may not be asking for the right support.

It would be a good idea for movie producers to ask for the submission of stories/ script. I have read a lot of blogs with great content that with the work of a good scriptwriter would pass for great Nollywood movies.

I think Nollywood require support from scriptwriters, copywriters and people in the creative industry.

I’ve NEVER come across or seen any Nollywood movie where one or two known Nigerian Designers provided wardrobe. You know our own “ Devil wears Prada” kinda movie. That sort of movie that you may not like the storyline but will continue to watch because of the fashion. (This statement does not apply to DWP).

The Music industry gets all the love from designers for their music videos and I think the same should apply to Nollywood. Most movies feel like the actors were asked to come with clothes from home or in some cases, some actors appear on set like they were coming from the neighborhood supermarket on a Saturday morning.

Attention to certain details regarding location would also help. Like I think Nollywood needs support from nightclubs and The Nigerian Prisons.

I hate to see people locked behind the burglary proof at a residential house and then we are meant to believe they are in Prison. I don’t work at the Prisons but I would think with a request, permission to shoot in prisons or police station would be granted.

I strongly believe that Nollywood needs to improve the quality of her party /event crowd. Most clubs have days they are not open or even on nights they are not open for business ,a club scene could be shot eliminating the faces of the other people in the crowd with focus on the characters of the said movie. We need more believable club scenes and not the usual room filled with the “hands” on set.

Nollywood needs support from the Nigerian musicians in regards to movie soundtracks, most people will be willing to offer soundtracks that relates to scenes and with that, we can put behind us the long story telling songs that run from the beginning of a movie to the end.

Nollywood requires support from Copywriters for Movie titles and graphic designers for movie jacket/poster graphic.

Nollywood needs our support in different areas, maybe they are already getting some this support, maybe I’m watching the wrong movies, maybe many more movies need to get this support but Nollywood requires all this support and even more to improve.

Nollywood is our own and we can only grow the industry when we critique and support the industry.

My name is Noble Igwe; I love Nollywood and will play my role to build the Nollywood of our dreams.

Nobs is a SLU…shh trust fund kid who works just to exercise his body and mind.
He’s “Unruly” but as calm as the “ABE” boys.
Referred to as FYI (Fly, Young and Igbo) by his friends, Nobs says iT tHe wAy iT iS.
Follow him on Twitter @nobsdaslushhkid
Enough of the English language……..My name is Noble Igwe,go figure!

28 comments

But Oga Noble, I think you’ve been watching the wrong movies as you rightly spelt out. From your post, I understand that you’re still stuck with the old days of Nollywood. The revolution has begun and the wave is everywhere.

I think you should step out more to see the so called “New Nollywood” we have now. You’d see most of this movies premier in the Cinemas before made available on DVDs.

When next you wish to criticise the industry, the basis of your criticism should be on movies released as from 2013.

The Industry has greatly improved and I for one, is enjoying the revolution.